Reserve studies

One is a document, the other is an account — and every conversation about your HOA's long-term money runs through both. Here's how the study and the fund relate, and how to check the health of each.

A reserve study is only as reliable as the work behind it — and some of the tells are visible to any board member willing to read closely. Here are six, with what each one means and what to do about it.

Open your reserve study next to this guide and you'll be able to read every section: what the component list is telling you, what percent funded actually measures, and where the 30-year table says you run out of money.